Dwayne Johnson talks about how to explore the “complicated” relationship with his father

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson fans will now have an ‘origin story’, so to speak, his meteoric rise in the new NBC series Young Rock, with the actor opening up about his ‘complicated’ relationship with his father, a legend of Rocky Johnson wrestling.

Elder Johnson passed away suddenly last year at the age of 75, with his famous son now opening up to People about his father.

The action star revealed that while the show is largely a joyful look at his formative years, they were not the easiest to explore for the 48-year-old actor.

‘I thought, well, let’s not take the easy way,’ said Johnson during the NBC TCA winter tour panel, along with Young Rock creator Nahnatchka Khan and writer Jeff Chiang.

‘But it was incredibly complicated and incredibly difficult. Growing up, and you know that we specifically followed these timelines in my life that were very defining times at 10, 15 and 18 … there are many things between those years that happened … but it was complicated and the relationship I had with my father was incredibly complicated – that was fueled by difficult love, ‘he said of his father.

These complications stemmed from his father’s unconventional upbringing, with Rocky’s father throwing him out of the house at age 13.

“My father was kicked out of the house at age 13 and he was a homeless person, so it shaped the man who then raised me,” said Johnson.

His father made history as a professional wrestler, becoming, along with Tony Atlas, the first black champions in WWE history when they won the tag team titles in 1983, when Dwayne was just 11 years old.

“And in this complication, an extraordinary life, full of travels, emerged. I lived in 13 different states when I was 13 and I also lived in New Zealand, ‘added Johnson.

The Young Rock show features Johnson aged 10 (Adrian Groulx), 15 (Bradley Constant) and 18 (Uli Latukefu), with Joseph Lee Anderson in the role of Rocky Johnson.

“My dad died a year ago this month last year, he died suddenly, and he is obviously featured throughout the show and Joseph, he did a great job playing my dad,” said the actor.

Johnson added that his father would have “loved it” because it will be the first TV series to show what life was like for professional fighters in the 1970s and 1980s.

‘And, you know, showing it like that, and showing it through the lens of something that is positive and you know what it meant, a lot for my dad because often the world of professional wrestling is not always looked through that lens in a positive way. There are a lot of positive things that we can take from that, ‘added Johnson.

In addition, Entertainment Weekly revealed a new cast for the series, along with some surprising plot details.

Although the series shows Young Rock’s childhood, with Johnson narrating, Johnson will also play himself as he prepares to run for president of the United States in the year 2032.

Rosario Dawson came on board to play General Monica Jackson, described as ‘a resilient leader, confident and firm in her decisions’, who she says is ‘an integral key’ to Johnson’s presidential candidacy.

Randall Park, who starred in Young Rock creator Fresh Off the Boat series Nahnatchka Khan, will play himself … although in the series he has changed from an acting career to a journalist who had full access to the Johnson campaign .

Young Rock debuts on NBC on February 16.